Document display stand with pivoting pockets

ABSTRACT

The present invention concerns a document display stand with pockets used to store documents. A connecting device is used to mount each of the pockets on a holder. The connecting device has a guiding device with a beak to prevent the pockets from being mounted to the holder in an upside-down manner. The display stand is modular, flexible and multipurpose, and can accommodate a variety of pocket formats.

The present invention relates to a document display stand comprising atleast one row of pockets provided with transparent envelopes designed tocontain said documents, a holder designed to support said pockets and amovable connecting device designed to fix said pockets on said holder sothat these pockets can pivot around an axis which is substantiallyparallel to one of their sides similar to the pages of a book, saidconnecting device having a connecting member located along one side ofeach pocket, and receiving means located on a front face of the holderdesigned to support said connecting members of said row of pocket'sholder in a pivoting and movable manner, each of said connecting membershaving projections which define a pivot axis parallel to said side ofthe pocket and located at a distance from said envelope, and thereceiving means comprising at least one row of recesses in which saidprojections are inserted by an axial movement parallel to the pivotaxis, said projections having a pivot rod located parallel to said sideof the pocket, the connecting member having a holding strip between thisrod and the envelope, and the receiving means having at least one groovefor each pocket designed to receive the pocket's pivot rod.

It is widely known that one of the best solutions for properlydisplaying information contained on documents such as sheets of paper,cardboard or any man-made material is to use a display stand like theone described above which makes it possible to protect said documentsagainst dirt whilst being easy to read and the information soughtreadily accessible. There are several types of display stands dependingon the place where this information is to be found, for example, the"desk" type to be laid on a work surface, "wall" or "rotating" type, inthe latter case, the display stand is circular instead of being flat. Weknow of transparent pockets which are made rigid on their periphery bymeans of a metal or synthetic wire and have attached pivots extendingfrom the ends of one of their sides firmly connected to said pocket bycrimping or welding, this side defining the pivot axis of the pocket ontheir holder. The desk or wall type holder are generally made up of asimple metal plate supported by a back stand or fixed to the wall whoseupper and lower edges are bent forward at a right angle. These bentedges each have a row of crossing recesses designed to accomodate thecorresponding pivots of said pockets. Known holders are designed toreceive a precise number of transparent pockets and can not be assembledtogether to increase this number. They are therefore not modular.Furthermore, to insert or withdraw a pocket from a holder, the user hasto use both hands in order to slightly deform the corresponding pocketso as to insert or remove the pivots from the holder's said recesses.What is more, when putting the pockets in place on a holder, it is easyto position them upside-down as no guiding device is provided. Dependingon the dimensions of the documents to be protected and displayed, thereare several transparent pocket formats, for example for the A5, A4, A3document formats (European formats) and the American U.S. format. As thelength of said pocket's pivot axis is different for each format, it isthen necessary to provide a holder adapted to the corresponding format.There are therefore as many different holders as there are transparentpocket formats. These holders are very basic, as described previously,which makes them easy to manufacture by any third party, thus penalisingdesigners and distributors specialising in organisation equipment. It isalso important to point out that these holders have to be completed withlateral stops allowing the documents to be held on the right or left ofthe holder. These stops usually come in the shape of a rod the edges ofwhich are curved to be able to be mounted in corresponding notchesprovided on the holder. They are easy to move and can therefore beremoved or lost quickly, thus hampering the use of the display stand.

The American publication U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,007 describes a storagedevice for floppy disks using several pockets designed to receive saiddisks and be mounted in a movable manner in a holder. Each pocket isborne by a connecting member along one of its edges and provided with apivot rod. The holder has several parallel grooves designed to receivesaid pivot rod in a pivoting manner. Each groove has a relativelyflexible holding element making it possible to slot the pivot rod intosaid groove. In this device, in order to put a pocket in place in theholder, one of the ends of the rod has to be inserted into an upper holein said holder, and the rod then forced into the groove. Furthermore,the pocket can be mounted in both directions.

The European publication EP-A-0438034 describes an album the pages ofwhich can be removed. Each page is provided with a connecting memberfitted with a pivot rod. The back of the album is provided on its upperand lower end with two rows of aligned and opposite recesses, designedto receive the ends of said rod. One of the row of recesses can have aremovable cover to make it easy to put the pages in place.

As in the device described in the American publication, the operationsrequired to put a page in place and remove it are not instantaneous andno guiding device has been provided.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioneddrawbacks by offering a display stand the design of which has been thesubject of a more in-depth study, particularly in terms of the shape ofthe various constituent parts, so that said display stand is easy tomodulate in order to increase the number of pockets per holder, flexibleto receive several formats of pockets, multipurpose to be used both in adesk and wall-mounted version, simple to handle and preferably able tobe fitted with guiding means to avoid putting the pockets upside-down ontheir holder.

These objects are achieved by a display stand such as defined in theintroduction, characterised in that the connecting device offers theadvantage of having an guiding device designed to prevent a pocket frombeing mounted upside-down on the holder, this device having respectiveparts, on the holder and on the connecting member of each pocket,designed to bump against each other to prevent said projections frombeing inserted in the receiving means, or prevent the connecting memberfrom pivoting when the pocket is positioned upside-down.

In a preferred form of embodiment, the receiving means have at least onefront opening, in the vicinity of said recesses, making it possible toinsert said projections in the recesses first by a movementperpendicular to the pivot axis, and then by said axial movement.

The pivot rod offers the advantage of having at least one protrudingfree end which is thicker to form an indexing head.

The guiding device preferably has a dissymetric configuration of theholding strip and can have a beak provided on this strip.

The receiving means offer the advantage of having at least one openingfor insertion purposes which extends from the groove and is wider thanthe groove to allow the pivot rod's indexing head to pass during saidperpendicular movement. The grooves can be delimited laterally by guideelements which extend in front of the recesses designed to receive saidindexing heads.

The front face of the holder can laterally have at least one pair ofprominent stops, incorporated into said holder and designed to limit thepivoting of said pockets.

According to the preferred form of embodiment, the holder has movablecoupling means on its sides, designed to assemble several holderstogether.

These movable coupling means offer the advantage of having a male parton one of the lateral faces and a complementary female part on the otherlateral face, these coupling means also having snap-on means.

The present invention and its advantages shall be more fully disclosedin the following description of examples of embodiment, with referenceto the the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a transparent envelope designed to contain adocument,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cutaway view along the line 2--2 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 illustrates a front elevation of the display stand's holderaccording to the invention,

FIG. 4 is a partial cutaway drawing along the line 4--4 in FIG. 3,

FIG. 4A shows interconnection of two holders together with one anothervia the complementary snap-on means,

FIG. 5 is a side-face cutaway view of the display stand according to theinvention along the line 5--5 in FIG. 3,

FIGS. 6a to 6d illustrate other examples of embodiment of a transparentpocket according to the invention.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, the display stand according to theinvention has a plurality of transparent pockets 20, designed to holddocuments containing information and at least one holder 40 designed toreceive said pockets 20 by means of a movable and pivoting link so thatthe pockets 20 can be turned like the pages of a book.

The transparent pocket 20, as illustrated by FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises anenvelope 21 made up in a well known manner of two rectangular sheets 22,23 in flexible synthetic material, superposed and welded together. Theheight of the sheet 23 at the back of the envelope is lower than that 22at the front to leave an opening 24 in which a document 25 can beinserted. The whole periphery of this pocket is made rigid by a metalwire 26 or similar, covered with a protective profile 27 in flexiblesynthetic material placed around said wire and welded on the four sidesof the envelope 21. On one of the lateral faces 28 of the pocket aconnecting member 30 is provided to couple this pocket 20 in a movablemanner to the holder which shall be described later on. This connectingmember 30 is made of a semi-rigid or rigid synthetic material, forexample according to an injection process. It comprises a rod 31 whichserves as a pivot and a guiding device 32, these elements beingconnected by a holding strip 33. The holding strip 33 extends along theside 28 of the pocket 20 and is fixed rigidly to it by means of one ortwo lips 33' which can be on one or two sides of the protective strip27. The rod 31 is borne by the middle part of this strip 33 at a heightof H1. It is placed horizontally at the side 28 of the pocket, at adistance of D1 from it and defines a pivot axis 34. It has two free endsof greater thickness forming indexing heads 31a, 31b. Above and-belowits middle, the holding strip 33 runs along the side 28 of the pocket 20and has a thickness D2 smaller than D1. In its top part, it has theguiding device 32 at the end with a beak the width of which D3 is atleast equal to D1, this beak 35 being at a distance H3 from the upperend 31a of the rod 31. This guiding device makes it possible to seewhich direction the pocket 20 is pointing in and to avoid inserting itupside-down in the holder 40.

The holder 40, as illustrated by FIGS. 3 to 5, comprises a box-shapedframe, provided with a front face 42 with means 60 for receiving saidtransparent pockets 20, a rear face 43, two lateral faces 44 and 45, alower face 46, designed to be placed on a horizontal bearing surface 47,and an upper face 48. The lower face 46 forms an acute angle α with thefront face 42 so that the latter is positioned in a plane inclinedbackwards in relation to said bearing surface 47. The frame 41 isstabilized on this bearing surface 47 by two lateral supports 49inserted into notches 50 provided at the base of the frame 41. Otheradequate connections can also be envisaged. These supports 49 aremovable so that the same holder 40 can be used in the desk version,according to FIGS. 3 to 5, when they are mounted, and in thewall-mounted version when they are removed. The rear face 43 of theframe 41 has wall fastening means, made up of a slot 51 designed tocooperate with a holding plate (not shown) fixed to the wall, or drilledholes 52 to receive at least one fastening screw (not shown), orpossibly other appropriate means. On its lateral faces 44, 45, the framealso has elements making it possible to couple several holders 40together in a movable manner and thus increase the number of pockets 20available on one same holder. FIG. 4A shows a second holder 40 to can becoupled to a first holder 40, via the mating complementary means, bymovement in the direction of arrow E. These elements have complementarymale 53 and female 54 shapes to be fitted together. The complementaryfemale shape 54 can be provided with interlocking elements ("clipping")55 designed to cooperate with corresponding recesses 56 in thecomplementary male shape 53, so that the holders are rigidly connectedto each other and avoid unintentional disassembly. Other suitablecoupling means can be used. The frame 41 is preferably made up of twomoulded parts 41a, 41b in synthetic material, assembled by being fittedtogether, which makes it possible to simplify manufacture andconsiderably reduce manufacturing costs. It can also be made of anyother suitable material. The front face 42 of the frame 41 has in itstop part receiving means 60 comprising:

a precise number of positioning grooves 61 parallel to one another andto the pivot axis 34, designed to receive the pivot rods 31 of anequivalent number of pockets 20,

front insertion openings 63, 64 making it possible to insert theindexing heads 31a, 31b, of rod 31 in the recesses 66, 67 by a movementB perpendicular to the pivot axis 34, and

recesses 66, 67 in which said indexing heads are inserted by an axialmovement C parallel to the pivot axis 34 according to movement B.

The grooves 61 are delimited laterally by guide elements 62, parallel toone another and situated in front of the recesses 66, 67. The guideelements 62 are laid in two distinct rows, one above and the otherbelow, delimited by two edges 68 and 69, these guide elements beingmatching from one row to the other. They are made by moulding a singlepiece with said front face 42 and can be salient or recessed in relationto this surface. They can also be weld mounted and take anotherappropriate shape. The upper 63 and lower 64 front insertion openingsextend from said grooves 61 and are designed to let the pockets' 20rod's 31 indexing heads pass through. The upper insertion openings 63have a slot in the front face 42 over its whole width and over a heightat least equal to twice the diameter of an indexing head, this slotbeing defined by two edges 63' and 63". These same upper insertionopenings 63 are defined laterally by the free ends of the correspondingguide elements 62. To facilitate the insertion of the upper indexingheads 31a in these openings 63, the edge 63' is provided with notches 65in the shape of a semi-circle located opposite said grooves 61. At therear of these openings 63 is a relief which defines a recess 66 servingas a stop for an upper indexing head 31a.

The lower insertion openings 64 are designed according to the sameprinciple as the upper insertion openings 63, particularly in the shapeof a slot extending from the front face over its whole width and over aheight at least equal to the diameter of an indexing head, this slotbeing defined by edges 64' and 64". At the rear of these openings 64 isa relief which defines a recess 67 serving as a stop for a lowerindexing head 31b. The distance H4 separating the edge 63' from theupper surface 48 of the frame 41 is less than or equal to the distanceH3 separating the beak 35 of the guiding device 32 from the upper end31a of the rod 31. In this way, the beak 35 remains on the outside theholder 40 and does not interfere with the rotation of the pockets 20.The lateral faces 44, 45 of the frame 41 are extended forwards by aprominent element 70 defining lateral stops making it possible to holdthe pockets 20 laterally and thus limit their pivoting angle.

The holder such as described above can receive several formats ofpockets as the shape and size of the connecting members 30 incorporatedinto the pockets 20 can remain identical from one format to another.

To put a transparent pocket 20 in place on a holder 40, as illustratedby FIG. 5 in continuous dashes, simply hold it with one hand and bringit closer along arrow B perpendicular to the front face 42 of theholder, the guiding device 32 pointing upwards, insert the rod 31 in oneof the positioning grooves 61 until it rests at the bottom of thisgroove, and the two indexing heads 31a, 31b in the correspondinginsertion openings 63, 64. When the pocket 20 is released, it slidesdownwards by gravity along arrow C to the position illustrated by FIG. 5in dotted lines, the rod 31 being guided in its corresponding groove 61,until it positions its indexing heads 31a, 31b in the recesses 66, 67provided. In this position, the pocket 20 can pivot to the right and tothe left without any risk of it coming out of its holder. To remove itagain, seize it with one hand, place it perpendicular to the holder,slide it upwards in the opposite direction to arrow C, until theindexing heads 31a, 31b are freed from their recess 66, 67 and placed intheir respective insertion opening 63, 64, then remove the pocket in theopposite direction to arrow B. If the pocket is held upside-down when itis inserted in the holder, as the beak 35 of the guiding device ispointing downwards it will bump against the front face 42 of the framebelow the receiving means 60 and thus prevent this pocket from being putin place. If the pocket is presented the right way up, the distance H3is sufficient for the beak 35 to always remain above the upper surfaceof the frame 41, as FIG. 5 shows, and thus neither prevents the pocket20 from being put in place or pivoting on the holder 40.

There are of course numerous other forms of embodiment of the connectingmember incorporated into the pocket and which can cooperate with thereceiving means 60 integrated into the holder, whilst retaining theinventions' characteristics. FIGS. 6a to 6c illustrate some examples ofother embodiments of the connecting member. In FIG. 6a, the connectingmember 80 is similar to the one described previously, its guiding device82 being made up of the pivoting rod 81 itself, the top part of which islonger than the bottom part. In FIG. 6b, the connecting member 90 has apivoting rod and is split into a top part and a bottom part, the guidingdevice 92 being made up of the holding strip 93 the height of which isdifferent in these two parts. In FIG. 6c, the connecting member 100 hasa pivoting rod 101 the ends of which 101a and 101b are connected to theholding strip 103 which has two pivoting holes 104. The guiding device102 is obtained by a dissymetry of these two holes.

The invention is not restricted to the examples of embodiment describedbut can be extended to include any modification or variation which isobvious for the expert.

I claim:
 1. A document display stand comprising at least one pocket (20)which is provided with a transparent envelope (21) for containing adocument (25), a holder (40) for supporting said at least one pocket(20) and a movable connecting device for pivotally affixing each of saidat least one pocket (20) to said holder (40);said connecting devicehaving a connecting member (30) located along a side edge (28) of eachsaid at least one pocket (20), and receiving means (60) being located ona front face (42) of said holder (40) for receiving and supporting saidconnecting member of said connecting device in a pivotable manner, eachsaid connecting member having a pivot rod (31) which defines a pivotaxis (34) such that said pivot axis extends parallel to said side edge(28) of said at least one pocket and said pivot rod (31) being spaced adistance (D1) from said envelope (21), said receiving means (60)comprising at least one row of recesses (66, 67) in which said pivot rodis inserted by an axial movement (C) parallel to said pivot axis (34);each said connecting member (30) having a holding strip (33) locatedbetween said pivot rod (31) and said envelope (21), and said receivingmeans (60) having at least one groove (61) for receiving said pivot rod(31) of said connecting member (30); wherein said connecting device hasa guiding device (32) which prevents said at least one pocket (20) frombeing mounted on said holder (40) in an upside-down manner, said guidingdevice (32) includes a beak (35) provided on said connecting member (30)of each said connecting device, and said beak (35) adapted to abutagainst said front face (42) of said holder (40) to prevent each of saidat least one pocket (20) from being inserted in said receiving means(60) when attempting to affix said at least one pocket (20) to saidholder (40) in an upside-down manner but allows pivoting motion of saidat least one pocket (20) with respect to said holder (40) when said atleast one pocket (20) is properly affixed to said holder (40) in aright-side up manner.
 2. The display stand according to claim 1, whereinsaid receiving means (60) has, adjacent said recesses (66, 67), at leastone front opening (63, 64) which facilitates insertion of said pivotingrod in said recesses by a first movement (B) perpendicular to said pivotaxis (34) followed by said axial movement (C).
 3. The display standaccording to claim 2, wherein each of said pivot rods has at least oneprotruding free end which is thicker, relative to a middle portion ofsaid pivot rod, to form at least one indexing head (31a, 31b).
 4. Thedisplay stand according to claim 3, wherein said at least one frontopening (63, 64) has a width that is greater than a width of said atleast one groove (61) to allow each of said at least one indexing head(31a, 31b) of said pivot rod to pass therethrough during saidperpendicular movement (B).
 5. The display stand according to claim 4,wherein each of said at least one groove (61) are delimited laterally byguide elements (62) which extend in front of said recesses (66, 67) toreceive said at least one indexing head (31a, 31b).
 6. The display standaccording to claim 1, wherein said guiding device is formed fromdissymmetrical holding strips (33) such that a first half of saiddissymmetrical holding strip (33) is not symmetrical with respect to asecond half of said dissymmetrical holding strip (33).
 7. The displaystand according to claim 6, wherein said guiding device (32) comprisessaid beak (35) provided on said holding strip (33).
 8. The display standaccording to claim 1, wherein said front face (42) of said holder (40)has at least one lateral pair of prominent stops (70), incorporated intosaid holder, for limiting pivoting of said at least one pocket (20). 9.The display stand according to claim 1, wherein said holder (40) has twolateral faces (44, 45) and has a male coupling means (53) provided onone of said two lateral faces (44) and a complementary female couplingmeans (54) provided on said other of said two lateral faces (45), andsaid coupling means (53, 54) have interconnectable snap-on means (55,56) for interconnecting two of said holders together with one another.10. A document display stand comprising at least one row of pockets(20), each of said pockets have a transparent envelope (21) forcontaining a document (25), a holder (40) having a front face (42), saidholder (40) being designed to support said pockets (20) and each of saidpockets (20) having a movable connecting device;said connecting deviceseach having a connecting member (30) located along one side (28) of eachof said pockets (20), and said front face (42) of said holder (40)having receiving means (60) designed to support each of said connectingmembers (30) of said at least one row of pockets (20) in a pivoting andmovable manner, each of said connecting members (30) having a projectioncomprising a pivot rod (31) which defines a pivot axis (34) extendingparallel to the one side (28) of each of said pockets (20) and each ofsaid pivot rods (31) being located at a distance (D1) from each of saidcorresponding envelopes (21) of said corresponding pockets (20), saidreceiving means (60) comprising at least one row of recesses (66, 67) inwhich said pivot rods are inserted by means of an axial movement (C)parallel to said pivot axis (34); said connecting members (30) eachhaving a holding strip (33) located between said corresponding pivot rod(31) and said corresponding envelope (21), and said receiving means (60)having grooves (61) each of said grooves (61) designed to receive acorresponding one of said pivot rods (31) of each of said pockets (20);said connecting devices each have a guiding device (32) comprising abeak (35) designed to abut against said front face (42) to prevent eachof said pivot rods (31) from being inserted in said receiving means (60)in an upside-down orientation but allows pivoting motion of said pockets(20) with respect to said holder (40) when said pockets (20) areproperly affixed to said holder (40) in a right-side up manner, saidholder (40) has two lateral faces (44, 45) and has a male part couplingmeans (53) provided on one of said two lateral faces (44) and acomplementary female part coupling means (54) provided on said other ofsaid two lateral faces (45), and said male and female coupling means(53, 54) have interconnectable snap-on means (55, 56) forinterconnecting two of said holders together with one another.
 11. Adocument display stand comprising at least one row of pockets (20), eachof said pockets have a transparent envelope (21) for containing adocument (25), a holder (40) having a front face (42), said holder (40)being designed to support said pockets (20) and each of said pockets(20) having a movable connecting device;said connecting devices eachhaving a connecting member (30) located along one side (28) of each ofsaid pockets (20), and said front face (42) of said holder (40) havingreceiving means (60) designed to support each of said connecting members(30) of said at least one row of pockets (20) in a pivoting and movablemanner, each of said connecting members (30) having a projectioncomprising a pivot rod (31) which defines a pivot axis (34) extendingparallel to the one side (28) of each of said pockets (20) and each ofsaid pivot rods (31) being located at a distance (D1) from each of saidcorresponding envelopes (21) of said corresponding pockets (20), saidreceiving means (60) comprising at least one row of recesses (66, 67) inwhich said pivot rods are inserted by means of an axial movement (C)parallel to said pivot axis (34); said connecting members (30) eachhaving a holding strip (33) located between said corresponding pivot rod(31) and said corresponding envelope (21), and said receiving means (60)having grooves (61) each of said grooves (61) designed to receive acorresponding one of said pivot rods (31) of each of said pockets (20);said connecting devices each have a guiding device (32) comprising abeak (35) designed to abut against said front face (42) to prevent eachof said pivot rods (31) from being inserted in said receiving means (60)in an upside-down orientation but allows pivoting motion of said pockets(20) with respect to said holder (40) when said pockets (20) areproperly affixed to said holder (40) in a right-side up manner; and eachof said pivot rods (31) has at least one protruding free end which isthicker, relative to a middle portion of said corresponding pivot rod,to form at least one indexing head (31a, 3b), said receiving means (60)has at least one insertion opening (63, 64) which extends from acorresponding one of each of said at least one groove (61), and said atleast one insertion opening has a width that is greater than a width ofsaid at least one groove to allow each of said at least one indexinghead (31a, 31b) of said pivot rods to pass therethrough duringperpendicular movement (B) of each of said pivot rods relative to saidpivot axis (34).
 12. The display stand according to claim 11, whereineach of said at least one groove (61) are delimited laterally by guideelements (62) which extend in front of said recesses (66, 67) to receivesaid at least one indexing head (31a, 31b).